Hiding From the Heart
by writingdancingandliving
Summary: Jasmine loves being a counselor at camp; it takes her minds off the duties of being a super spy. Meanwhile, the only reason Aladdin is even there is because that's where his mission takes him. The two hit it off right away-but what happens when they are forced to become each other's enemies?
1. Chapter 1

**JASMINE**

I slid the canoe into the water, making sure not to let go of the rope which saved me the trouble of having to swim after a runaway boat. I kicked off my flip flops and let them land in the sand, then stepped into the cool water. I ran through the series of safety tests on the canoe like a machine; this was my fourth year at camp Little Creek, and I had been in charge of the canoes since the first. To be honest, it was my favorite job I had to perform, getting ready for the campers. Well, that and decorating my cabin. I liked to put up pictures of far off, exotic places. Places I'd never been, but someday wished to go. I didn't travel much, or really at all, because my parents refused to take me anywhere out of the country. But someday I knew I would get to go, eventually, and I would see everything I'd ever dreamed of.

My watch let out a beep, and I looked down to find a message from The Genie.

"How are you getting settled?" it read. I sighed. Having to think about my duties as a spy while getting ready for camp sort of soured the experience. It was nice to feel normal for a few days, even though I knew I would be assigned a mission soon anyway. I was going to answer The Genie back, but I figured he could wait, and returned to my job.

When I'd finished with the first canoe, I shoved it up onto the shore, and dragged the next one into the water. I flipped my long, black hair out of my eyes, annoyed because it was always getting in the way. I had only gone into the lake up to my knees, and was hoping not to get too wet, for I had a counselor meeting to attend shortly after I was finished with the canoes. Planting my hands firmly in the canoe, I hoisted myself up and landed with a thud inside. As stably as I could I stood up, then walked around, feeling for any faulty wood or damage. Suddenly, I lost my balance and landed with a splash in the water. Rubbing my face to wipe off the water, I heard a laughing coming from the beach. I looked up to find a young man, about my age with olive-colored skin and dark hair, laughing at me. However, his laughing wasn't cruel or taunting; it was quite friendly.

"I guess you witnessed my graceful fall," I accused, calling out to him. He laughed again.

"Yes, and it was very graceful." The man walked over to the water, where I was trying to swim to, and extended his hand. I took it, and he pulled me out with force, yet gently. I had to hope I wasn't blushing. "You must be Jasmine. Jafar sent me to find you. He wanted me to tell you that the staff meeting was starting."

"Oh, yes, I am Jasmine. And you must be the new counselor, Aladdin," I guessed, knowing that he was the only counselor that hadn't been to the camp before. He nodded. "Is Jafar mad?" I asked, cringing at the thought. Jafar, my boss, was an ill-tempered stickler, who absolutely hated tardiness.

"Not yet, but I'm afraid if we don't hurry he will be." I had to smile; this Aladdin was so friendly and warm. Something told me we were going to be good friends.

**ALADDIN**

She was beautiful, I couldn't deny it. Not to mention, friendly and kind. But I would try not to get too attached to anyone-who knew what my assignment would be? For all I knew, she was the enemy.

As we sat down, Jafar looked at us with displeasure over his sharply pointed noise. His angular face molded into a frown, his beady eyes piercing our skulls. Oh yes, he would be a wonderful boss.

"Jasmine," he started, each syllable he said strong and clear. "Why on earth are soaking wet?" He said this as if it were the worst crime in the world. I stifled a laugh; it had been funny!

"While testing the canoes I'm afraid I fell in the lake," she answered, meeting his eyes with confidence. He sighed, obviously disapproving.

"Clumsy," he muttered. Then he addressed the eight other counselors as well. "Alright, the campers arrive tomorrow, and we have to be ready for them. Once you finish at your assigned jobs, do a check of the inventory, and make sure your cabins are in order. We have some returning campers this year, so if you recognize them, please address them by name. Only if you recognize them, Kathleen." He glared at a short, brown-haired girl who seemed to want to melt.

Jafar was a merciless ruler.

"There is to be no romantic relationships between any counselors," he continued. "It is completely inappropriate and unnecessary." I couldn't help but smirk, and I saw Jasmine's eyes flicker in my direction. I wondered if she was puzzled with me.

Once the staff meeting was finished the group of counselors dispersed to the locations of their duties, leaving me alone with Jasmine.

"May I walk you back to your cabin?" I asked, making a formal sweep of the hand. She giggled, and I secretly congratulated myself on a job well done.

"I would be honored."  
"So how long have you been working here?" I tried to make conversation.

"This is my fourth year. Oh, but I went here three years as a camper."  
"How do you stand Jafar?"

"I barely can! But after a while he's not so bad." Suddenly I heard a beeping, one that sounded like my tablet. My heart skipped a beat, and I reached to silence the message, but found that my tablet was off. "That's just my stupid old watch," Jasmine said suddenly, pressing a few buttons. A few seconds later, the beeping stopped. "It's been broken for forever. Sometimes the alarms just go off uncontrollably." She was playing it off well, whatever it was, but, being a trained spy, I could tell that she was suddenly a bit jumpy and uncomfortable. We could see her cabin from where we stood, and I didn't want to press it.

"It was nice meeting you, Jasmine. I hope to see you around camp," I said, putting our conversation to an end. She nodded and smiled.

"You too."

I walked back to my own cabin thinking about her. Something was different about her. I just couldn't tell what yet.

**RAJAH**

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow I start camp at Little Creek! So excited! I hope counselor Jasmine is there again. She always was my favorite.

Your friend, Rajah


	2. Chapter 2

JASMINE

The next morning around nine o'clock my cabin was filled with eight energetic girls, including Rajah, a girl from last year. I usually didn't pick favorites, but I had to admit, I really liked her. She was so open-minded, bright, enthusiastic. Only ten, and so smart!

"Jasmine!" she cried when she saw me, and clasped her hands around my waist. I smiled and responded with a "hi".

"How are you Rajah? How was your school year?" I asked, standing by the doorway to the cabin. As she entered, notebook in hand and backpack on her back, she sighed.

"I have missed it here," she said, barely above a whisper. Then, as if she had just heard my question, turned and answered me. "The same as always. I feel fine, and the school year was ordinary. So I guess I could say good."

"I'm glad," I responded, smiling a genuine smile. Rajah always did make me happy.

"Oh, but I am so excited to be back!" she cried, transforming into her younger self again.

"Why don't you set up your bunk while I greet the rest of the campers, alright?" She nodded, and hurriedly grabbed a bottom bunk, under a quiet, pale girl named Maddie. Rajah was the fourth of the girls that had arrived already. The other three were, as I named before, Maddie, then a loud girl named Amica, and a shy girl named Marilla. Yet to come were Melissa, Cami, Valerie, and Silvia. I had to wonder how Aladdin's cabin was doing.

While my girls were setting up for their four week stay, I slipped outside to check my messages. Two from The Genie. The first read "How is the first day of camp going?" I let out a small kind of a snort. There was something odd about my employer sending me the small pleasantries when I knew he didn't really care. I skipped the first message and read the second one. "We have have gathered some information that may lead us to the enemy's spy. This particular agent has been undercover for years, and no one knows where he is or who he is. But we may have found something that can help. Go to the infirmary at lunch and meet Iago. He will tell you all you need to know."

"Got it," I quickly tapped back, then silenced my watch to avoid anything like what had happened the previous night with Aladdin. Iago, one of Little Creek's nurses, was like a messenger between me and The Genie. Since he wasn't the only nurse, he didn't have to stay all night, so he went to visit The Genie, then brought the news back to me. The system worked well.

"Jasmine?" a camper called from the front door.

"Coming!" she called, and ran to the front of the cabin. Now all she had to do was await lunch time.

ALADDIN

I had never met such active young boys before. They ran around everywhere, throwing footballs and tackling each other. At ten they had just enough energy to keep it all up but not enough poise to, well, listen to me.

"Jimmy, stop running! Marvey, stop pulling Kane's hair! Woah, Oscar, George, Will, take turns using the football." Who knew that eight ten year old boys could be this hard?

Okay, I really should have seen it coming, but I had never been a camp counselor before. Yet they were giving me trouble before we had even had lunch on the first day.

Which reminded me of why I was there in the first place. While the boys ran around outside, I went inside the cabin and checked the tablet. No messages from Gazeem yet. I nearly sighed; I really wanted to just complete my mission and have this summer be over.

As if an answer to my prayers, the whistle blew, telling everyone that it was time for lunch. I led the boys up the gravel path to the cafeteria, and sat down at an uncomfortably small lunch table with them. I looked around for Jasmine, but she was nowhere to be found. Discouraged, I let out a huff.

After lunch, the whole camp met outside on the beach for our official greeting. Jafar started by introducing us all. When he got to me, he told everyone that I was "The new counselor, Alabbin."

"Aladdin!" I corrected, as I waved at everyone. Jafar just rolled his eyes at me. I hadn't even noticed that Jasmine had appeared, and was standing at the end of the line as if she had been there the whole time. When I did notice, I grinned and waved at her. She smiled politely, then looked away, leaving me with a little to be desired. Afterwards I hurried my steps to catch up with her. "Jasmine," I said coolly as I approached her.

"Oh, hi" she responded. "What's up?"  
"I just wanted to know how your cabin was going."  
"Great! They really are just terrific kids." At that moment a small girl appeared and started hugging Jasmine. She laughed, and introduced her as Rajah. The Rajah girl gave me a look almost threatening, and I backed up a few inched.

"Well, nice to see you. I'll just be getting back to watching the kids now," I said, making up an excuse to go. Jasmine nodded.

"See ya around."

"Yeah, see ya."

RAJAH

Dear diary,

Today was the first day of camp. It was great! Jasmine is my counselor again! There was a new counselor, named Aladdin, but I can't say I liked him very much. He seemed to be distracting Jasmine, which annoyed me. I hope he keeps his distance from her.

Signed, Rajah

**Authors note: Thanks so much for reading this! I really appreciate it, and constructive criticism is accepted. **

**I've been trying to keep parallels to the story, while adding my own twists. Aladdin, summer camp and spies are a strange mix!**

**Please feel free to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

JASMINE

"It was such a mistake sending you to this camp," the Genie's voice sounded at the end of the other line. I smiled, knowing what he meant.

"It's not like I'm here all year. Just the summer."

"Nevertheless, you're distracted. You seem to forget that you have a mission, one that you will have to act upon soon."  
"I'm not forgetting, I'm just doing my job, as a counselor."

"Yeah, well do your job as a spy, or I'll have to rethink your next summer." This was supposed to be taken as a threat, but I just gave a light-hearted laugh. I knew the Genie valued me as a friend and employee, and he would never do that to me. "Jasmine, stop laughing!" This just made me giggle even harder. "You're so immature sometimes, honestly. Maybe you should be one of the campers instead." Behind the secrecy of a phone call, I rolled my eyes. A small gust of wind blew my hair back, and I pulled my sweater closer to my body. It was always chillier on the beach.

Yet the placidness, the stillness of the water and the black outlines of the trees always calmed me. During the day the beach was full of activity, and bathing suits and sunscreen, but during the night it was like my own secluded haven. Somewhere where I could take a deep breath and think things through, as I often didn't when caught up in the hustle of the day. I took one of those deep breaths now.

The night air felt great in my lungs.

"I do wish you would tell me who my target is," I said, returning to my call with the Genie.

"Patience is a virtue. Luckily for you Iago received the picture of your opponent in the today, which he will be showing you tomorrow morning at six. All you are to do is find out where they are keeping the rest of their stolen goods. Understood?"

"Yes."  
"Good." A beat, then, "Jasmine?"

"Yes?"  
"Take care of yourself, alright?" I smiled, hearing the real concern in his voice.

"Of course. Good night."

"Good night."

"Gooooooood morning!" Iago chimed when I walked in the door the next morning.

"Morning," I replied, sleepily rubbing her eyelids.

"Someone's a bit tired. Coffee?" he asked, holding up a steaming hot cup.

"Thanks," I replied, taking a sip and letting the steam warm up my face. Then, switching from pleasure to business, put the mug down and asked Iago for the picture.

"Oh, yes, of course. Now, let me see...where did I put that?" he started mumbling, looking in all the secret compartments of the infirmary. "I know it's here somewhere." He slid away one of the wall panels and shuffled through all the confidential documents. "I only got it yesterday." On his desk something caught my eye. An orange tab stuck out from under all the paperwork and magazines. "Now, I remember what it looks like." I gently pulled on the tab until a manila folder was revealed. CONFIDENTIAL was scrolled across the side in black ink, and in the middle in small letters was written "To none other than Iago". I noted that that was so typically the Genie.

"Is this it?"

"Ah, yes! Thank you, my girl," Iago praised when he saw the miraculous discovery I had made. There was silence for a moment then "Go ahead. Open it."

I always had mixed emotions at this particular moment. Excitement, for I was starting a new mission, yet dreading, for I knew her opponent would probably end up being someone I knew, which was always hard.

I unwrapped the little red string and carefully slipped out the picture, to find myself face-to-face with the one person I would never have expected it to be.

Aladdin.

"Oh boy," was all I could manage to choke.

ALADDIN

"So I had 50 bucks at stake here, right? No losing that. Now, this basket is literally at the other side of the court, and they are all staring me down, 'cause they don't wanna lose the money either." Aladdin stopped for a second, half to catch his breath and half to add a dramatic pause.

"So what did you do?" Logan asked, his eyes wide with curiosity. I loved hanging out with the other counselors; they were actually pretty cool guys.

"What do you think I did? I made the shot, of course!"

"Awesome. Woah, John, get down from the fence. Not a toy." I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"This job never rests, does it?" Logan shook his head.

"But I still love it. The kids, once you get to know them, aren't that bad. And hey, they don't do anything I didn't do when I was their age." We got up off the bench and started walking towards where the boys were playing.

"True," I responded. To be completely honest, I wasn't 100% focused on the conversation. My thoughts kept absent-mindedly wandering back to Jasmine. She was strangely unique, for some reason, and it was weird that I couldn't get her out of my head. No other girl had done that to me before.

"I'm gonna grab something from my cabin. See you at lunch!" I gave a wave as Logan jogged off. This reminded me of my own responsibilities, and I slipped behind a tree while pulling out my tablet. One message from Gazeem: "Your opponent has been located, we are sending a picture, which will arrive tonight. All you have to do is get the information about the stolen goods. Best of luck."

"Joy," I muttered. "I'm actually going to have to talk to somebody."

"It's nice out here, isn't it?" I asked, startling Jasmine, who nearly fell backwards off her log.

"Oh, hi, yeah, it is." She looked fairly freaked out to see me. I was hoping it was simply because she hadn't expected to see me at the beach during the nighttime.

"I got hungry so I swiped this from the kitchen," I said, handing her a piece of bread and sitting down next to her.

"Aladdin!" she cried, but a smile spread across her face. "You're such a...thief." As she said the word "thief" a frown replaced the smile.

"Hey, it's not worth that much. And it's for a good cause," I explained, wishing her reaction had been a bit different.

"But what if it isn't? Stealing is stealing, that's all there is to it." Her face hardened as she looked at me, but she seemed more upset in general than she was with me. What she was saying made me stomach do flips inside me. It sounded like she knew about my organization, about Gazeem, and our plan to steal food from the government to give to the starving children in the streets. It wasn't wrong; it was moral.

"I-"

"It's fine, I'm sorry, I'm being silly," Jasmine cut me off, looking down at the still uneaten bread in her hand.

"It's alright. I can tell you're pretty worn out."  
"Oh, so you can sense my emotions now?" she asked, laughing. I nodded, glad she seemed a bit more upbeat now.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you are sort of an open book."

"I am not!" she defended herself, her eyes smiling.

"Yes, you are."

"You have no idea," she muttered, barely above a whisper. Then, raising her voice and standing up, she said "I should probably be going now, get some sleep. Tomorrow always comes too quickly." Silently I wondered why she always left so soon, and why she didn't like talking to me. The darkness engulfed her, and before I could think it through, I reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Jasmine-"

"No," she protested, shaking her head violently. "Don't, please, just don't." She ripped her arm from my grasp and bolted away. I plopped down on the ground, rubbing my eyes in frustration. A sudden noise made me jump, then I remembered my tablet.

"Here is the picture of your opponent," the message from Gazeem read. A picture downloaded onto the screen, a picture of none other than Jasmine.

I couldn't speak.

RAJAH

Dear diary,

When Jasmine thinks we are all asleep, she leaves the cabin. I think she goes to the beach, because she seems to really like it there. I like to wait until she leaves, and then read books using the moonlight. It's so peaceful during the night. But last night she came back crying, which has never happened before. I'm guessing it was because of that Aladdin. I don't like him.

Bye, Rajah

**Hi guys! I am so flattered if you are reading my work! I really appreciate reviews, constructive criticism is applauded. :) So just take a second after reading and please tell me what you think! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

JASMINE

"Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep," I sang under my breath, making my bed the next morning. "Dreaming about the things that we could be." I hummed the rest of "Counting Stars" as I fluffed my pillow, resting a flower I had picked from a nearby tree down on it. A bird came to the window and chirped loudly. I smiled, laughing to myself at the fact that I had managed to attract the company of a bird. "What am I? A Disney princess?" I asked myself mockingly, eyeing the bird. A second later it flew away, leaving me with a strange feeling of sudden emptiness.

"Jasmine?"

"Oh!" I cried, jumping at the sudden voice. "Rajah, it's only you. What are you doing up this early?" I usually got up about an hour earlier than her campers so she would be ready when the trumpet fanfare began.

"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I wanted to see how you were doing," the camper explained in steady, mellow tones. I nodded and sat down on my bed.

"How are you?"

"Good. Except for the fact that I couldn't sleep, which is annoying. Can you ever not sleep? Like, I don't know, late at night? Do you take walks, or, maybe, go somewhere calming, like a beach?" Rajah gave her counselor a suspicious glance, and I crossed my arms while a smile crept onto her face.

"What do you know?"

"I know that at eleven-thirty last night you came back from the beach sobbing," Rajah answered, suddenly becoming a detective.

"What were you doing up at eleven-thirty?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, and making a mental note to check that all the campers were asleep before I went out next time.

"Beside the point," Rajah said, escaping the possibility of getting in trouble. She sat down next to me. "What's the matter Jasmine?"  
"It's complicated." I let out a soft, sad laugh. "But basically, I like a guy, but there is no way we can ever be together."

"Hmm, boy trouble. I don't think I can help you with that."

"I would hope not!" Rajah shrugged.

"My advice is that whatever it is that's keeping you apart, get rid of it. That's what I would do, anyway." She hopped up from the bed, reminding me that this young girl was still only ten. "Now I'm going to go take a shower before everyone else gets up. I can snatch the one with the least spiders!" She bounced away, leaving me looking down at my clasped palms. A few moments later, she poked her head back out from behind the wall. "And Jasmine?"

"Yes?" I asked, my head whipping up immediately.

"Feel better." She disappeared again, leaving me with a warm feeling inside and a smile on my face.

ALADDIN

So my mission was literally to steal Jasmine's confidential files, find out her correspondents, and relatively destroy her and her life.

Great.

I walked out of the cafeteria with my campers following, trying to remember what came next on the schedule. Luckily Jafar appeared to take care of that.

"Campers, we are having an all-camp meeting in the Grand Hall as of right now. Go, go, go," he commanded, waving the group of kids towards the cabins. Out of the blue, he cast a particularly nasty glance at me, which made me want to shrink down a few feet. He really did not seem to like me. The campers ahead of us, the counselors started to follow. My attention was caught suddenly by a sharp cry behind me. I found Jasmine on the ground, with a large bleeding gash in her leg.

"Jasmine? What happened?"

"I-I tripped and fell into a rock," she said between gritted teeth. She clutched her leg, but blood was dripping through her fingers.

"We have to go to the infirmary immediately," I decided, extending my hand as an offer of help. She took it and I pulled her up. She looked at me and her brow furrowed.

"You know what, I'll probably be fine. You know, just walk it off." She put a bit of weight on her leg and winced.

"Nope. Come on, I'll take you."

"No, Aladdin, really, you shouldn't do that."

"I insist." Something inside me set off an alarm; something was off, but I couldn't think what. I imagined it might have something to do with the fact that she was supposedly my sworn enemy, but I put the thought to the back of my mind. She was hurt, and I needed to take care of that first.

I pushed open the creaky door of the infirmary to find the lights out. I flipped the light switch to find Iago, the nurse, sitting at his desk.

"What were you doing sitting in the dark?" I asked. He said nothing, stood up and pulled a gun from out of his pocket. Holding it at my heart, he commanded that I put my hands above my head, and I did as told.

"Jasmine?" I hissed. She looked at me sadly but walked over to stand next to Iago. Suddenly I realized what was going on. I had been set up. Jasmine had purposely gotten hurt so she could lure me to the infirmary, where her partner was waiting.

"Against the wall," Iago ordered, and I slammed my back into the paneling. Two more men entered, both dressed in black with visible Tasers in their belts. I exhaled in distress and leaned my head against the wall. I had been in situations like this before, but never one where the only person I had allowed myself to trust in the past three years had been the cause. "Check him for weapons," the "nurse" ordered, the gun still trained at my chest. The men patted me down, while I rolled my eyes.

"I can assure you, I don't have any weaponry. I work as a camp counselor!"

"So does Jasmine," Iago shot, and this brought my attention to her. I gave her an icy glare, but she looked so bemused that I turned my vision to the floor. Suddenly she turned around so she was facing the wall, burying her head in her hands. The feeling of betrayal pounded in my chest.

"He's clear," one of the men announced.

"Thank you," I quipped. "Can I put my hands down now?" Iago kept his eyes focused on my face, and slowly, regretfully put his gun down. I noted that his finger was still latched around the trigger.

"Here's the deal," he started, and I prepared myself for the whole spiel. "You tell us where you are hiding the rest of the stolen goods or we take a little trip. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," I mumbled. "The only problem is," I began, raising my voice a bit. "I'm not telling you anything." Defiance was always a great way to go while dealing with people holding guns.

"Let's try that again," Iago threatened, walking around his desk to approach me. "One more chance. Where are the rest of the stolen goods?" To his great annoyance, I answered in the most juvenile way possible; I made the motion of zipping, then locking, my lips. "Chloroform," Iago spat, glaring at me.

"Wait!" Jasmine screaming, jumping in front of me in the last few seconds before the cloth reached my mouth. Instead it was pressed onto hers, and seconds later she collapsed into a heap on the floor.

RAJAH

Dear diary,

Jasmine is missing. Well, Jasmine and Aladdin. They've been missing since after lunch today, and the whole camp has been searching, yet they are nowhere to be found. Some of the girls in my cabin are convinced that they ran away together, like some romantic movie, but I have a strange feeling that that isn't true. However, I'm not worried. I know Jasmine can fend for herself. I've got to go-they're calling another camp meeting.

Missing my counselor, Rajah


End file.
